MeerKAT, South Africa’s premier radio telescope, has successfully completed its first full Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observation with the European VLBI Network (EVN)—the world’s most sensitive VLBI system. This milestone marks a major advance in global radio astronomy, significantly boosting the resolution and sensitivity of observations. By integrating MeerKAT into EVN operations, researchers captured unprecedented detail of a plasma jet from a distant supermassive black hole. The collaboration demonstrates MeerKAT’s powerful role in enhancing VLBI networks and sets the stage for its future contributions to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). Coordinated by SARAO and JIVE, this achievement highlights the strength of international scientific partnerships.
For more read the press release from JIVE here and from SARAO here.
Illustration: Benito Marcote, JIVE.
Image credits: MeerKAT image ©SARAO; EVN map image ©Paul Boven, JIVE (satellite image: Blue Marble Next Generation, courtesy of NASA Visible Earth).